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Amos Lassen wrote on 04/02/2011:

The BBC knows how to make a mini-series and “Tchaikovsky” is another great one. It is a mixture of performance, analysis and biography and has a great deal to tell us about the Russian composer and classical music icon. “Tchaikovsky” is a two-part series now released on DVD under the direction of Charles Hazlewood and is an analysis of the music as well as recreations of what was happening in the man’s life. It was produced in a series of flash back and begins with the premiere of the “Pathetique Symphony” which was poorly received. It was to be the last symphony that Tchaikovsky conducted; he was dead a few days after. We then return to the master’s unhappy childhood as the series attempts to show some of the psychological reasons for Tchaikovsky’s homosexuality that would cause him grief his entire life. Self-loathing over his own behavior which he, himself, considered aberrant helps in showing the conflicts in his psyche which lay behind his wonderful music which was often melancholic.
The film delves behind the music to show the impetus and creativity of his genius and we even see the composer’s affair with a young male student.
Beautifully photographed in Russia and the use of a Russian student orchestra adds to the atmosphere of the plot and Hazlewood, himself, conducts interviews with the young Russians as to how the music has affected their lives.
The sound is crystal clear and the Piano Concerto is a real gift. Bonuses include “Who Killed Tchaikovsky?”, a short which examines the mystery behind the master’s death and clips from Ken Russell’s film “The Music Lovers” which starred Richard Chamberlain.
The DVD is a little bit of everything—it is a biography of the composer as well s a concert performance and a documentary and Ed Stoppard as Tchaikovsky is absolutely brilliant.